Councilmen air concerns with hospital management

Members of the St. Mary Parish Council were provided with more information at their meeting Wednesday regarding two parish entities that have made headlines recently.
The first presentation was in regard to Franklin Foundation Hospital and included Chief Executive Officer Craig Cudworth. Cudworth gave a brief talk and then was asked by several councilmen about recent issues the hospital administration has been trying to address.
“We have some long standing problems between the medical staff and administration that we are actively trying to resolve,” Cudworth said.
Cudworth was brought back to the podium later in the meeting to respond, initially, to questions posed by Councilman Rev. Craig Mathews. Mathews asked Cudworth about the hospital board’s tendency to conduct business behind closed doors and the inability of the community to scrutinize the affairs of a public institution.
“I think it’s critical that we operate with as much transparency as humanly possible,” Mathews said. “Having worked in healthcare for the last 15 years, I understand the difference between things that have to be kept confidential and things that should be practiced with as much transparency as we can and keep things public.”
Cudworth responded that he encouraged transparency in affairs at FFH, despite his recent suggestion at a special hospital board meeting to move into executive session and keep the proceedings confidential.
“I agree with the need for transparency,” Cudworth said. “It’s a balance. It’s a balance we are constantly working on.”
When asked by Councilman Gabriel Beadle about the relationship between FFH’s management firm and the company he works for, Quorum Health Resources, and the firm’s parent company, Community Health Resources, which has been sanctioned multiple times for fraud by the federal government, Cudworth avoided the question.
“The purpose of our discussion tonight is local,” Cudworth said.
Mathews continued to press Cudworth on recent events at FFH regarding an unnamed physician who recently left the facility due to circumstances that have not been made public. Mathews expressed concern with the way the hospital administration handled the situation.
“It alarms me tremendously that our hospital would work extremely hard to relieve a full-time surgeon that had been a part of our community for 20 years,” Mathews said. “That concerns me.”
St. Mary Parish President David Hanagriff also weighed in on the conversation and expressed a desire to clarify some of the concerns of the parish board.
“The patient care at Franklin Foundation is not in question at all,” Hanagriff said. “The doctors and medical staff and nurses and supporting staff do an excellent job. That’s not in question at all. The only issue we have and questions we have is related to management.”
The second presentation made to the parish council concerned the proposed closure of a school in Morgan City. Shannon Elementary School Principal Shantell Toups spoke to the council and urged them to try and reach out to school board members to try and convince them to vote to keep the school open.
“We were told that one of the major agenda items at the next board meeting would be the closure of Shannon Elementary School,” Toups said. “We have had just a week to digest that information. Our children need that building. They feel safe there. It’s a concern for our parents and our children. For it to close would be extremely detrimental for the community.”
The decision from the school board may be made today at a special board meeting set for 7 p.m. at the Central Office Complex in Centerville.